Kenya's VP wants ICC case to go on without him

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Kenyan Vice President William Ruto said Tuesday the government wants his war crimes case at The Hague to move forward without him present.

Ruto, national broadcast director Joshua Sang and President Uhuru Kenyatta are accused by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, of committing war crimes during post-election violence in 2007.

Kenyatta chose Ruto as his vice president for elections this year. Both men were on opposing sides during the 2007 melee.

Ruto said from The Hague he wanted to return home to tend to his national obligations, calling on the ICC to move forward without him.

Kenya is still reeling from last month's terrorist attack by al-Shabaab on an upscale shopping center in Nairobi. Ruto's case was adjourned briefly last month so he could return home to help coordinate the response to the attack.

"It is clear that the president and myself need every space to deal with that challenge even as we pursue the interests of justice and balancing it with the responsibility of running the country," he was quoted by The Daily Nation newspaper in Kenya as saying.

The ICC said it had evidence to suggest there was "a network of people" trying to sabotage the case against the vice president.

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